Chevy Astro and GMC Safari Forum banner

Brought my van home with me today!

2K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  Astrofarian 
#1 ·
Went to pick up my van today and did a little investigating.

2000 Astro LS AWD for $450. I was told it had 145k with a recent top end. It's got 155k. Haven't confirmed the top end work, but I'll see if I can. Most machine shops put those heat melt disks on the freeze plugs to reject warranty work if it was overheated. So if I see them I'll assume it was done.

Van was advertised as having a blown trans. I picked up a rebuilt one from a 98 Blazer in case and it came with an NP233. The more I picked the brain of the seller the more I suspected something simple and I think I'm right. Something happened with the cable / shifter and it broke and wouldn't shift the trans. I popped the cable off underneath, shifted it into park and started it up. :) No major drama there...

The service AWD light is on. I'll have to figure that out. The bottom doors (barn doors) won't open. The driver's door needs new hinge bushings - BADLY. So bad the door panel stuck and broke...

Not sure what I'm going to do with the AWD. Not sure if it's an encoder, the NP136 or something else, but I'm very tempted to convert the NP233 to manual shift and just run as 4WD.

BTW, the tow truck is mine... :) 87 F350, 460, 5spd 4.10 LS rear. The 460 isn't fast, but several times I had to look back to make sure the van was still there. Oh, and yes, I dropped the front driveshaft out before towing it. I did move the van a foot or two while hooking up and getting to the bolts. There was no battery in the truck, so I don't see how that could have tripped the service AWD light. No, I haven't looked at the fuse... :)
 

Attachments

See less See more
3
#3 ·
The body is rust free and has more than $450 in usable parts.... So... Yeah, hard to go wrong. And yes, I'll be doing most, if not all my own work.

Shifter assembly ordered and lower barn doors open... :) Pry the door panel off and use a pry bar on the latch from inside. My handle wasn't broke, it was just cruddy in there. I've lubed it up and it works like it should.
 
#5 ·
Apparently in 95 with the interior redesign GM started using the cable setup. Not sure of the changeover years for each model; whenever they went to the new style dash.

Anyway, if the person parks on a hill without the e-brake, or fights with the shift interlock it can crack and break the housing. Basically any abusive behavior.

If you pop the cable off underneath you can get it into park by shoving the arm forward. The shift arm goes clockwise into park. Rotated anti-clockwise it goes P-R-N-D-3-2-1. Depending on the shifter the arm can be up or down.It's down on a cable shifted Astro van.

And yes, you can shift it into drive to move the van. It's extremely dangerous as the van is running. Obviously it's a two person trick as I don't trust the e-brake.
 
#6 ·
Welcome!

Totally a nice steal - and a nice tow truck, too (me is jealous). I paid double that for my '00 basket case, and mine has more wrong with it.

Idiot PO broke the parking pawl on the tranny in my '00 because he apparently had no idea what the e-brake was for until the pawl was broken. Fortunately (well, sort of) he also ran the transmission low on fluid and burned it up. Which is why I have over a year-long saga in pulling it so I can rebuild the one in my '99 (has a blown engine) and put it in its place. No, it hasn't taken me a year to pull the tranny :oops: ; I've done a lot of other replace/fix/rust conversion/paint/etc stuff along the way. I think. I still have to replace the front diff with the one from my '02 parts van (also blown engine) as well and replace the leaking oil cooler lines at the same time. Idiot also cracked at least one of the flexplate teeth in his multiple replacement of starters odyssey (no, I don't think much of the PO) but I have a brand new one sitting on the seat of the '99 already.
 
#7 ·
Played around with the van some more today... Started cleaning the interior... Filled a big contractor's trash bag...

Fired it up again and tested the AC. It blows cold, but the belt slips so the alternator stops working.... Rev the engine ***SCREEEECH!!!***, let off and it'll start charging. 50/50 shot on what happens every time it cycles. Rear air works too. :)

Shifter parts should be here in a day or two and I'm crossing my fingers that I can get to it this weekend. Assuming that's all that's wrong I'll grab a battery and move forward with my list... :)

As for PO's, I have my share of WTF moments wondering why they did what they did or about "repairs" they did, etc.
 
#8 ·
Yay... It shifts. Well, mostly. When I ordered the shifter assembly they said it included a cable. The shift interlock cable, not the shifter cable... When I had it apart it felt tight. I may see if there's adjustment to it, but looks like I'm going to be getting the cable because it's tight shifting and won't manually go into 1st gear.

But, on jack stands it shifted into reverse and drive and went though all the gears!!!

Woot Woot! :D
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top